Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2022
Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard Exhibition Hall
- A' Design Award 2022 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2022
- CLIENT: Gad
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 33,378
- Verification code 399A9E805B · Verify this award
About Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard Exhibition Hall
Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard is an exhibition hall located at Xiaoshan Innovation Polis in Hangzhou, China. The building stands next to a lake, and the setting recalls a Jiangnan watery town. Herringbone sloping roofs, white walls and black tiles form a continuous and rhythmic image. The interior is organized around a landscape atrium with a light well, following the spirit of the traditional courtyard. Natural light enters the rooms through the atrium glass. The entrance uses imitation wood poles that form a semi-transparent screen.
Gad's Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard Exhibition Hall, recipient of the prestigious A' Design Award, represents a refined synthesis of contemporary architectural language with subtle references to regional building traditions, achieving a dialogue between material innovation and cultural memory that resonates with the broader trajectory of thoughtful modernism in exhibition architecture. The design demonstrates exceptional command of processional sequence, employing the extended stone forecourt as a spatial prelude that prepares visitors for threshold crossing while the bilateral symmetry of the composition establishes ceremonial gravitas appropriate to the building's cultural function. Technical accomplishment manifests particularly in the timber louver system adorning the central pavilion, where the warm amber tonality and linear rhythm create a semi-transparent veil that modulates between revelation and concealment, suggesting the traditional screen walls of courtyard architecture while speaking an unmistakably contemporary formal vocabulary. The chromatic strategy proves equally sophisticated, with the cool blue-gray of aluminum cladding on the flanking wings establishing a restrained backdrop against which the timber warmth reads with heightened intensity, while reflective pools extend this dialogue between thermal qualities into the horizontal plane. The undulating roofline emerges as the composition's most distinctive gesture, its gentle curves evoking wave forms or distant mountain profiles without literal mimicry, achieving poetic suggestion through geometric abstraction. Material selection throughout demonstrates sensitivity to both visual and tactile experience, from the granular solidity of stone underfoot to the rhythmic warmth of timber overhead. One might consider how the building's generous horizontal proportions and symmetrical organization create a sense of welcoming equilibrium, inviting contemplation of the relationship between architectural shelter and the landscape it frames.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The building is located at XiaoshanInnovation Polis, and being adjacent to the lake in the place is the landscape advantage that has added the smart sense of the Jiangnan watery town. The herringbone sloping roofs and the minimalist white walls and black tiles elements give a vivid visual impression, forming an overall continuous and rhythmic picture. The herringbone undulating roof brings a rich state of space, and which seems to be a sign of the designer’s preference for the endless mountains.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The light well in the traditional courtyard emphasizes spirituality and sense of belonging. The building also responds to this concept in space design, and it is overall like an enclosed hall with the internal functional organization built around a light well atrium.
Stepping into the front hall, the landscape atrium is opposite to the entrance. Natural light becomes an indoor light source through the atrium glass. The seasons change and the variety of light and shadow are all like being collected in this transparent landscape container. Combined with the waterscape, it fills the square space with the light flow sense and fresh vitality, responding to the environment characteristics of overlooking lake in the area. - Tags
- Traditional courtyard, Jiangnan Watery Town, Spirituality, Sense Of Belonging
- Production Technology
- The entrance is made of imitative wood pole elements creating a semi-transparent curtain effect. The building facade combining with the small scene of the landscape creates a wonderful picture of mountains and rivers in Jiangnan.
- Design Challenge
- In this case, we try to depict the understanding of the traditional Jiangnan architecture and explore the cultural roots growing in space. And meanwhile, this project trys to answer how should architecture express the unique charm of oriental architecture with modern language.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2016 in Hangzhou, China and finished in 2018.08.
- Operation Flow
- Stepping into the front hall, the landscape atrium is opposite to the entrance. Natural light becomes an indoor light source through the atrium glass. The seasons change and the variety of light and shadow are all like being collected in this transparent landscape container. Combined with the waterscape, it fills the square space with the light flow sense and fresh vitality, responding to the environment characteristics of overlooking lake in the area.
When we visit the gardens, we often linger in the twists and turns of the virtual and real landscape. In the design of the experience hall, this gardening method is used in the architectural space to create a virtual and real spatial sequence. For example, the glass material used at the corner along the lake, and the Jiangnan architectural elements of the white walls and black tiles, form a virtual and real, modern and ancient, indoor and outdoor integration. - Research
- If the design is telling a kind of wisdom, a certain quality or a feeling about beauty, then culture is the train of thought hidden in the design method. In the traditional concept, oriental architecture advocates the implicit quality and avoids the direct expression. In the design concept of Jiangnan No.1 Courtyard Life Experience Hall, we respond to the spirit characteristics of the traditional Jiangnan courtyard with modern language.
- Inspiration
- The patio in the traditional courtyard emphasizes spirituality and sense of belonging. The building also responds to this concept in space design, and it is overall like an enclosed hall with the internal functional organization built around a patio atrium.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Yi Fan, Main Image, 2018.10.19.
Image #2: Photographer Yi Fan, Optional Image, 2018.10.19.
Image #3: Photographer Yi Fan, Optional Image, 2018.10.19.
Image #4: Photographer Yi Fan, Optional Image, 2018.10.19.
Image #5: Photographer Yi Fan, Optional Image, 2018.10.19.